Lucian’s grin was wildly hot. “You really are quite the woman, aren’t you?”
“I think it depends who you ask.”
Alaric caught back up with us a short while later. “I think we’re good. They were heading back to the truck, and there’s no way it’s getting through these trees.”
Lucian slowed his mad sprint through the woods and eased me down. He scrutinized me for apparent damage, running his hands up and down my legs and my arms.
I grinned. “I think I’d know if I was shot.”
“You would be surprised what adrenaline can do to inhibit pain,” he muttered, still surveying me.
“You’re sure this isn’t just an excuse to put your hands all over me?”
Lucian seemed to realize that he was currently pressing his fingertips against the bottom of my butt cheek as he searched for bullet holes. He straightened, flashing a slightly guilty smile. “You appear intact. Though I would prefer to do a more thorough search.”
I raised an eyebrow. “I bet you would.”
Alaric cleared his throat. “Not to be the bearer of unfun news, but I should mention the bond tends to amplify under the effects of adrenaline. You two may want to be careful, assuming your plan is still to avoid fucking, that is.”
I took a half step back from Lucian, which prompted the ever-present throb in my chest to urge me back toward him. “Wonderful,” I said. “As if this wasn’t hard enough already.”
Lucian’s eyes didn’t leave mine. “Yes. It’s quite hard.”
I titled my chin to the side. “Is it?”
Alaric laughed. “Do I need to separate you two?”
I felt myself snap out of the hormonal haze long enough to catch where my thoughts were going. I may not survive the next few days. I may end up riddled with bullet holes or getting sucked dry in some back alley. Worse, I may even end up giving in to the unrelenting tug of the bond making me want to jump Lucian in all his gorgeous glory.
But…
If I survived this, I was absolutely going to crush my thesis paper. I could already imagine the looks of pure hatred and loathing on my professor’s faces when I walked in with a sample of the magic, curative blood. Of course, I’d need to do some fiddling to figure out the sexual side effects, but that was the only thing standing between me and a discovery that could literally change the world.
Lucian was breathing heavy, even though the breakneck sprint through the forest hadn’t seemed to wind him. He tore his gaze from me and looked to Alaric. “What did Bennigan say to you?”
“You mean before I threw a pistol at his head?”
“Yes. Before that.”
“He said he wanted to ‘tear your little human’s throat out and feed it to his dogs.’”
“Vampire dogs?” I asked.
Lucian waved my question away, still looking at Alaric with growing concern. He grimaced. “She’s too vulnerable. We need to convince him that I’ve sealed the bond.”
“Easy enough. I could send him a phone video of the way you two look at one another. I’m sure he’d be convinced within moments that you’ve been ravenously fucking at every opportunity.”
I looked away. Rude. Not exactly untrue, but rude.
Lucian moved closer to me, taking me by the shoulder and waiting for me to look up.
“We need to convince them that you’re one of us.”
“You want me to pretend to be a vampire?”
“Yes,” he said. “More specifically, you need to pretend you’re an Undergrove. My Undergrove.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You’re saying that like it has some kind of magical significance but I’m not sure I follow. Weren’t we already pretending I was your girlfriend?”
“There is a very big difference between a human plaything and a bonded human who is newly turned.”
Alaric nodded. “One is hardly worth a raised eyebrow. The other is something of a rarity.”
“There were so many of you. I’d think you guys were turning people to vampires all the time.”
Lucian shook his head. “It was already not common before we were locked away. It’s less common now. The power balance has grown so delicate that turning new vampires is seen as an act of aggression. It’s also something that requires a certain degree of strength. There aren’t as many elders as there once were, it seems.”
“So what makes it a good idea to pretend we’re doing the thing that other vampires see as an act of aggression?”
“I don’t believe Bennigan was telling the truth to my brother. I also know he is a much better shot than he displayed during our brief chase. He didn’t want to risk shooting you.”
I felt my stomach clench. “He wanted me alive?”
“Yes. And if he believes I’ve already turned you, he won’t think he can torment me by doing it first.”
I swallowed, throat clicking noisily. “You think he wants to… what? Make me drink his blood and then sleep with me?”